Density of CD8-positive tumor-infiltrating T-lymphocytes is an independent prognostic factor in adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction

• Juliana Knie ^[1] ; Pamela Lazar-Karsten ^[2] ; Ulrich Wellner ^[2] ; Richard Hummel ^[2] ; Christoph Thorns ^[1]
  1. [1] Marienkrankenhaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Alemania
  2. [2] University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany
• Localización: Histology and histopathology: cellular and molecular biology, ISSN-e 1699-5848, ISSN 0213-3911, Vol. 34, Nº. 10, 2019, págs. 1121-1129
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have commonly been associated with markedly improved prognosis in a variety of human cancers, including carcinomas of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract.

    Especially the presence of T-cells (cytotoxic as well as helper cells) seems to define a subgroup of patients with prolonged overall and event-free survival. The density of TILs was assessed via immunohistochemistry for CD8 and CD103 in a population of 228 adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction. Density of CD8+ Tlymphocytes was inversely correlated with depth of tumor infiltration (p=0.013) while no correlation with any of the analyzed clinicopathologic factors could be established for CD103-density. High density of CD8- positive T-cells additionally showed significantly longer overall survival (OS) with a p-value of 0.024 while density of CD103+ cells was associated with prolonged tumor free survival (p-value 0.011). Independence could be demonstrated applying Cox proportional hazard analysis (Hazard Ratio 0.742; 95%-Confidence Interval 0.579-0.951; p=0.019). High density of CD8-positive Tlymphocytes identifies a patient subgroup with significantly prolonged overall survival, is correlated with tumor stage and might open up new therapeutic possibilities via immunomodulating drugs.